At night, the baggage team stopped moving forward and found a flat place. The soldiers unloaded the cart from the camels and laid it flat on the ground. The parts on it were very heavy and could not be unloaded from the cart. They had to
Put them directly on the carts and arrange them neatly into ten rows, with ten carts in each row, so that the carts are concentrated together to the greatest extent.
Three thousand Xixia soldiers lit more than a dozen bonfires, and the soldiers gathered around the bonfires to barbecue and drink, which was extremely enjoyable.
After eating the dry food, the driver gathered with the camels and went to bed early.
The leader of this baggage team was Cao Li. He initially missed Ganquan Fort due to untimely intelligence, but he was lucky and was not held accountable and continued to serve as general.
Cao Li looked at the dark wasteland, somewhat worried in his heart. On the one hand, he was worried about the wolves, and on the other hand, he was also worried about the sneak attack by the Song army.
But he couldn't control his men. The soldiers wanted to eat meat and drink alcohol. The commander didn't prohibit it, so there was nothing he could do.
The escort officer stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "I've been looking around all night. What are you worried about?"
"I'm worried if the Song army attacks!"
"How could there be a Song army? They were surrounded in the castle and the commander would let them out? Stop thinking nonsense."
"Actually, I'm worried about the wolves!"
The escorting officer laughed loudly, "There's a bonfire going! The wolves don't dare to come."
The escort officer waved, and several soldiers came forward and dragged Cao Li over to drink. Cao Li had no choice but to follow.
At this time, on a mound two miles away, several Song soldiers looked at the carnival of the Xixia soldiers from a distance. After a long time, they turned their horses and galloped away to the east.
In a mountain col ten miles away, a military tent revealed a glimmer of light. Inside the tent, Liu Cui was deploying combat plans to several commanders.
"This time our target is heavy baggage, not Xixia soldiers. This is our target, and we must not deviate from the target."
A Dutou asked cautiously: "What if we can wipe out all the enemy troops?"
"Here's the problem. Have you ever thought about it? There are three thousand people on the other side, six times our number. This is not a military camp. The soldiers have taken off their armor, and their horses and weapons are not around. They can set fire to sneak attacks and kill at will.
But now they are all wearing armor, with weapons and horses nearby. They can mount up and fight at any time. It is no problem for us to kill five hundred people, or one thousand people, but can we kill three thousand people? Once we are entangled by the enemy,
How will our mission be accomplished?"
Liu Cui's words made everyone understand that it is true that one cannot just be happy for a while, one must seize the opportunity to complete the task.
At this time, a soldier reported outside, "The brothers who went to investigate are back."
"Let him in!"
A security guard walked in from the outside, knelt down on one knee and saluted, "See the commander!"
"No need to be polite, tell me about the investigation!"
"Reporting back to the general, the enemy has currently lit more than a dozen bonfires, drinking wine and eating meat, shouting and shouting, and is in a very high mood."
"Are you sure they drink?" Liu Cui asked with a smile.
"I can confirm that they are indeed drinking wine. They are holding wine bags, and it is definitely not goat's milk."
Liu Cui asked again: "How are their carts and siege baggage arranged?"
"The carts have been unloaded from the camels and arranged neatly, in ten rows and ten columns. However, the siege baggage has not been unloaded from the carts. They are still placed on the carts. The carts are outside the soldiers and on the other side.
It’s hundreds of camels and cart drivers.”
Liu Cui smiled and told everyone, "The situation is similar to what we imagined, so we will implement it according to the previously agreed upon plan."
...........
The time gradually came to the third watch, and the Xixia soldiers who had eaten and drank enough fell asleep one after another by the campfire. They did not take off their armor, and the horses were beside them. The campfire was already looming, the surrounding wilderness was silent, and the sky was full of stars.
.
On the periphery, dozens of patrol posts were patrolling a mile away. They were distributed in a large circle and surrounded the Xixia army and baggage in the core from a distance. However, the number was obviously too small. There was only one patrol post more than a hundred steps away.
Liu Cui led the Song cavalry to appear two miles away. Their horses' hooves were wrapped in thick cloth, their speed was not fast, and there was basically no vibration.
Generally, when five hundred war horses are galloping, the vibrations can be faintly felt three miles away. However, if the horses' hooves are wrapped and the speed is very slow, they may not be discovered until more than a hundred steps away.
The Song Army's cavalry approached silently. Liu Cui drew out an arrow and aimed it at a patrol sentry a hundred steps away. The arrow came so suddenly that the sentry did not realize it at all. The arrow hit his throat, causing the sentry to fall heavily from his horse.
At the same time, two patrol posts in the north and south were also shot dead by masters. No shout was made. Three patrol posts were shot dead, and a large gap three hundred steps wide appeared. The Song army urged their horses to pass through the gap silently.
, approach the enemy campfire.
When they were still two hundred steps away from the enemy, they were finally spotted by the patrol.
The patrolman shouted, and several gunpowder arrows shot into the sky, emitting a bright red light.
Liu Cui shouted, "Action!"
The five hundred people suddenly accelerated and rushed towards the baggage...
Xixia soldiers woke up from their sleep one after another. Someone pushed Cao Li awake. Cao Li was shocked when he heard that there was a sneak attack. He stood up and shouted: "Hurry up and gather!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a wolf-toothed arrow shot out with a "whoosh!" at a very fast speed. The arrow hit the back of Cao Li's neck. Cao Li groaned and fell down.
The person who shot the arrow was Liu Cui. He took the lead and happened to see Cao Li waving and shouting. He didn't know that the other person was the general. He immediately made a decision and shot an arrow, accidentally killing the enemy general.
The Song Army cavalry split up in front of the baggage, one on the left and the other on the right. Their hands were filled with kerosene in their skin bags. They sprayed all the kerosene on the baggage while running. After spraying the kerosene, they threw it away.
He flattened his bag, galloped on his horse, and left quickly to the west.
Five hundred cavalrymen flew past both sides of the baggage like two long snakes, non-stop throwing the kerosene, sulfur and gunpowder in their hands into the baggage. Finally, a dozen cavalry threw torches into the baggage and painted them.
The baggage train filled with kerosene burst into flames with a loud "boom!"
It only lasted three minutes from beginning to end, which was extremely short, and the three thousand Xixia Army soldiers were still in chaos, looking for horses, weapons, and their own teams. When they gathered a little, the Song Army had already gone away, and the people on the ground were
A large piece of the baggage had been engulfed in the raging fire.
...........
It was finally bright, and Liu Cui led his men back to the Xixia Army's camp. The Xixia soldiers and coachmen had withdrawn to Baochuan County.
Their general was shot and killed, the fire in the baggage was too great, there was no water source, no rescue, and no one knew how many Song troops were around. The Xixia soldiers were panic-stricken, and they retreated to Baochuan County soon after the baggage caught fire.
The open fire of the baggage has been extinguished and is still emitting green smoke. Most of it has been burned to coke, and only some parts in the middle are not burned by the fire.
The soldiers of the Song Army dragged away several burned carts and opened a passage. The soldiers pulled out the unburned parts with ropes.
It turned out to be a few big guys, an extremely thick battering ram, about five feet long, at least made of a large tree that was hundreds of years old. It was also surrounded by iron chains, but the pointed part of the battering ram
It has been burned to charcoal, but the hammer body is intact.
"Saw the mallet into three sections!"
Liu Cui gave the order, and the soldiers immediately got busy looking for saws.
"Commander, come and take a look at this!" a captain shouted from a distance.
Liu Cui urged his horse forward, and saw a dozen soldiers holding out an extremely long wooden pole. The wooden pole was at least seven feet long, equivalent to the height of a seven-story building. The thickest part was thicker than a thigh, and the thinnest part was more than
arm.
The wooden pole was held down by the battering ram, was not burned by the fire, and was perfectly preserved.
"What could this be?" Liu Cui asked in surprise.
An older man with more experience came up and looked at it carefully for a moment and said: "Commander, this should be the throwing rod of the trebuchet!"
Liu Cui was shocked. The longest trebuchet throwing rod was only five feet! How could there be a seven-foot-long throwing rod?
"It must be a trebuchet!"
Du Tou pointed to the charred remains of a body nearby and said, "You'll know just by looking at this!"
Liu Cui saw the main body of the burned trebuchet next to it. It was a super giant trebuchet with a height of three feet. This was the largest trebuchet to date and could throw a boulder weighing one hundred kilograms five hundred steps away.
There were three such trebuchets in total, and they were all burned down, leaving only one throwing rod intact.
Everyone looked at Liu Cui. Liu Cui thought for a while and said: "Take the iron chain of the battering ram and this throwing pole with you, find a good cart, and light a fire with the other unburned parts."
burn!"
The battering ram was sawn into three pieces, and the fire ignited again. Liu Cui and the crowd gathered around a cart, turned around and drove away in the direction of Yelanggou...